Torah
Trivia for Parshah 31. Emor (Questions
Only)
1.
Can you describe the type of relative(s) that a כהן is able to visit (and for which he is able
to become ritually unclean), upon the passing of that relative(s) from
life: a.) his mor (mother); b.)
his far (father); c.) his son;
d.) his daughter; e.)
his brother; f.) his sister;
and/or g.) his wife?
2.
Can you describe the type of relative(s) that the High Priest is able to
visit (and for which he is able to become ritually unclean), upon the passing
of that relative(s) from life: a.) his mor;
b.) his far; c.)
his sons; d.) his daughter;
e.) his brother; f.)
his sister; and/or g.) his wife?
3.
Can you describe which of the following characteristics, described
within this Parashah, are prohibitive for a prospective bride of a כהן: a.)
being a כהן; b.)
being a widow; c.) being a divorcee; d.)
being a prostitute; e.) being a גר;
f.) being his sister; and/or, g.)
being a virgin?
4.
Within column 1, there is a listing of personal characteristics, and
within column A, there is a listing of Priestly duties; for each personal characteristic, can you
match 1.) what a כהן with that personal characteristic with
A.) the Priestly duty that such a כהן is
permitted to perform?
Personal
Characteristics
1. Blindness
2. Lameness
3. A Disproportionate Limb
4. A Broken Limb
5. A Hunchback
6. Dwarfness
7. A Growth within the Eye
8. A Boil Scar
9. Scurvy
10. Crushed Testes
Priestly Duty
Priestly Duty
a.)
Performing an Offering to Adonai
b.)
Eating from an Offering to Adonai
c.)
Entering within the Curtain of the משכן
d.)
Approaching the Altar
e.)
Having Sexual Intercourse with His Wife
f.)
Selling His Agricultural Land
g.)
Inspecting a Person with Leprosy
h.)
Inspecting a House with Fungus
5.)
Can you describe which conditions prevent a כהן from eating from an offering made to
Adonai until a כהן
with such a condition is made clean:
a.) leprosy; b.)
having a discharge from his penis;
c.) touching a corpse; d.)
having an emission of semen;
e.) touching an unclean
animal; f.) touching an “infectiously” unclean person; and/or, g.)
experiencing hypocrisy?
6.)
Can you describe who is able to eat from the Priestly portions of
offerings made to Adonai, without penalty:
a.) a כהן;
b.) the hired labourer of a כהן; c.)
the slave of a כהן; d.)
the son of a כהן; e.)
the daughter of a כהן; f.)
any Israelite; g.) any גר?
7.)
Which characteristic, within an animal, is permitted when making a
freewill offering: a.) blindness;
b.) physical injury; c.)
boil scar; d.) scurvy;
e.) an extended or contracted
limb; and/or, f.) damaged testes?
Questions 8 – 11 pertain to the sacred
occasions commanded within Vayikra 23:1 – 36:
8.)
Can you describe the sequence in which the 7 sacred occasions, that are
explicitly commanded within this Parshah, are described?
9.)
Out of these 7 sacred occasions, can you describe the number of days in
which rest (prohibition from work) is explicitly commanded during a given year?
10.)
Can you describe on which of these sacred occasions an animal sacrifice
is unnecessary?
11.)
Can you describe the annual sacred occasion that is implicitly included
within Parshah Emor, yet that is only explicitly commanded/explained elsewhere
within the Torah?
12.)
Can you describe the measure for each of the loaves of the bread of
display placed near the Menorah; and the material from which the oil is made to
light the Menorah?
Torah
Trivia for Parashah 31. Emor (with
Answers)
1.
Can you describe the type of relative(s) that a כהן is
able to visit (and for which he is able to become ritually unclean), upon the
passing of that relative(s) from life:
a.) his mor (mother); b.)
his far (father); c.) his son;
d.) his daughter; e.)
his brother; f.) his sister;
and/or g.) his wife?
Answer: A כהן is able
to become ritually unclean upon the passing from life of: a.)
his mor; b.) his far;
c.) his son; d.)
his daughter; and, e.) his brother;
he is only permitted to become ritually unclean upon the passing
of: f.)
his sister, when his sister is a virgin;
he is prohibited from becoming unclean upon the passing of: g.)
his wife:
“The
LORD said to (Moshe): Speak to the
priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:
“None shall defile himself for any dead person
among his kin, except for the relatives that are closest to him: his mother, his father, his son, his
daughter, and his brother; also for a
virgin sister, close to him because she has not married, for her he may defile
himself. But he shall not defile himself
as a kinsman by marriage, and so profane himself.” (Vayikra 21:1 – 4).
2.
Can you describe the type of relative(s) that the High Priest is able to
visit (and for which he is able to become ritually unclean), upon the passing
of that relative(s) from life: a.) his mor;
b.) his far; c.)
his sons; d.) his daughter;
e.) his brother; f.)
his sister; and/or g.) his wife?
Answer: The
answer is: “h.)” a High Priest is unable to become ritually
unclean for any of his relatives:
“He shall not go in where there is any dead
body; he shall not defile himself even
for his father or mother. He shall not
go outside the sanctuary of his God, for upon him is the distinction of the
anointing oil of his God, Mine the LORD’s.”
(Vayikra 21:11 – 12).
3.
Can you describe which of the following characteristics, described
within this Parashah, are prohibitive for a prospective bride of a כהן: a.)
being a כהן; b.)
being a widow; c.) being a divorcee; d.)
being a prostitute; e.) being a גר;
f.) being his sister; and/or, g.)
being a virgin?
Answer: This
is somewhat of a “trick” question, and the answer is actually: h.) there
is an absence of an explicit prohibition, described within this Parashah, for a
כהן to marry
a woman with any of these characteristics;
this Parashah does describe that the High Priest can only marry a virgin
from his Priestly caste, which excludes: b.) a
widow, c.) a divorcee, d.) a prostitute, and, e.) a גר;
there is the description within the previous Parashah of Acharei Mot
that prohibits any man from marrying:
f.) his sister:
“He may marry only a woman who is a virgin. A widow, or a divorced woman, or one who is
degraded by harlotry—such he may not marry.
Only a virgin of his own kin may he take to wife—that he may not profane
his offspring among his kin, for I the LORD have sanctified him.” (Vayikra 21:13 – 15).
4.
Within column 1, there is a listing of personal characteristics, and
within column A, there is a listing of Priestly duties; for each personal characteristic, can you
match 1.) what a כהן with that personal characteristic with A.) the Priestly duty that such a כהן is
permitted to perform?
Personal
Characteristics:
1. Blindness
2. Lameness
3. A Disproportionate Limb
4. A Broken Limb
5. A Hunchback
6. Dwarfness
7. A Growth within the Eye
8. A Boil Scar
9. Scurvy
10. Crushed Testes
Priestly Duty:
Priestly Duty:
a.)
Performing an Offering to Adonai
b.)
Eating from an Offering to Adonai
c.)
Entering within the Curtain of the משכן
d.)
Approaching the Altar
e.)
Having Sexual Intercourse with His Wife
f.)
Selling His Agricultural Land
g.)
Inspecting a Person with Leprosy
h.)
Inspecting a House with Fungus
Answer: All
10 personal characteristics are explicitly included as “deformities” that
prohibit a כהן
from performing certain Priestly duties, explicitly: a.)
performing an offering to Adonai;
c.) entering within the curtain
of the משכן; and, d.)
approaching the altar;
A כהן with
such a characteristic is able to:
b.) eat from an offering made to
Adonai;
There is an absence of any explicit prohibition of
such a כהן performing the duties of: e.)
having sexual intercourse with his wife;
g.) inspecting a person with
leprosy; or, h.) inspecting a house with fungus:
“The LORD spoke further to (Moshe): Speak to Aaron and say: No man of your offspring throughout the ages
who has a defect shall be qualified to offer the food of his God. No one at all who has a defect shall be
qualified: no man who is blind, or lame,
or has a limb too short or too long; no
man who has a broken leg or a broken arm;
or who is a hunchback, or a dwarf, or who has a growth in his eye, or
who has a boil scar, or scurvy, or crushed testes. No man among the offspring of Aaron the
priest who has a defect shall be qualified to offer the LORD’s gift; having a defect, he shall not be qualified to
offer the food of his God. He may eat of
the food of his God, of the most holy as well as of the holy; but he shall not enter behind the curtain or
come near the altar, for he has a defect.
He shall not profane these places sacred to Me, for I the LORD have
sanctified them.” (Vayikra 18:16 – 23);
Option “f.) selling his agricultural land,” is
actually a trick question because a כהן is actually prohibited from owning any
agricultural land, as prescribed within Bamidbar 18:21 – 24.
5.)
Can you describe which conditions prevent a כהן from eating from an offering made to
Adonai until a כהן
with such a condition is made clean:
a.) leprosy; b.)
having a discharge from his penis;
c.) touching a corpse; d.)
having an emission of semen;
e.) touching an unclean
animal; f.) touching an “infectiously” unclean
person; and/or, g.) experiencing hypocrisy?
Answer: A כהן is
prohibited from eating from an offering made to Adonai after the כהן is made
unclean by: a.) leprosy;
b.) having a discharge from his
penis; c.) touching a corpse; d.)
having an emission of semen; e.) touching an unclean animal; and, f.)
touching an “infectiously” unclean person:
“Throughout the ages, if any man among your
offspring, while in a state of impurity, partakes of any sacred donation that
the Israelite people may consecrate to the LORD, that person shall be cut off
from before Me: I am the LORD. No man of Aaron’s offspring who has an
eruption or a discharge shall eat of the sacred donations until he is
pure. If one touches anything made
impure by a corpse, or if a man has an emission of semen; or if a man touches any swarming thing by which
he is made impure—whatever his impurity—the person who touches such shall be
impure until evening and shall not eat of the sacred donations unless he has
washed his body in water. As soon as the
sun sets, he shall be pure; and
afterward he may eat of the sacred donations, for they are his food.” (Vayikra 22:3 – 7).
6.)
Can you describe who is able to eat from the Priestly portions of
offerings made to Adonai, without penalty:
a.) a כהן;
b.) the hired labourer of a כהן; c.)
the slave of a כהן;
d.)
the son of a כהן; e.)
the daughter of a כהן; f.)
any Israelite; g.) any גר?
Answer: The
proceeding people are explicitly able to eat from the Priestly portions: a.) a כהן, and
c.) the slave of a כהן; d.) the son of a כהן is actually also a כהן and is able to eat from the Priestly
portions; e.) the daughter of a כהן is able to eat from the Priestly portion
if she is unmarried or if she is without children and living within her far’s
house after becoming widowed or divorced;
As for: b.) the hired labourer of a כהן;
f.) all “unpriestly”; and, g.)
all “unqualified” כהן,
each is prevented from eating from the Priestly portion:
“No lay person shall eat of the sacred
donations. No bound or hired labourer of
a priest shall eat of the sacred donations;
but a person who is a priest’s property by purchase may eat of
them; and those that are born into his
household may eat of his food. If a
priest’s daughter marries a layman, she may not eat of the sacred gifts; but if the priest’s daughter is widowed or
divorced and without offspring, and is back in her father’s house as in her
youth, she may eat of her father’s food.
No lay person may eat of it: but
if a man eats of a sacred donation unwittingly, he shall pay the priest for the
sacred donation, adding one-fifth of its value.” (Vayikra 22:10 – 14).
7.)
Which characteristic, within an animal, is permitted when making a
freewill offering: a.) blindness;
b.) physical injury; c.)
boil scar; d.) scurvy;
e.) an extended or contracted
limb; and/or, f.) damaged testes?
Answer: For a freewill offering, animals with: e.) an
extended or contracted limb are acceptable:
“When any man of the house of Israel or of the
strangers in Israel presents a burnt offering as his offering for any of the
votive or any of the freewill offerings that they offer to the LORD, it must,
to be acceptable in your favour, be a male without blemish, from cattle or
sheep or goats. You shall not offer any
that has a defect, for it will not be accepted in your favour.
“And when a man offers, from the herd or the flock,
a sacrifice of well-being to the LORD for an explicit vow or as a freewill
offering, it must, to be acceptable, be without blemish; there must be no defect in it. Anything blind, or injured, or maimed, or
with a wen, boil-scar, or scurvy—such you shall not offer to the LORD; you shall not put any of them on the altar as
gifts to the LORD. You may, however,
present as a freewill offering an ox or a sheep with a limb extended or
contracted; but it will not be accepted
for a vow. You shall not offer to the
LORD anything with its testes bruised or crushed or torn or cut.” (Vayikra 22:18 – 24)
--
Questions (8 – 11) pertain to the
sacred occasions commanded within Vayikra 23:1 – 36:
8.)
Can you describe the sequence in which the 7 sacred occasions, that are
explicitly commanded within this Parshah, are described?
Answer: The
7 sacred occasions are described within the proceeding sequence: Shabbat (Vayikra 23:3); Pesach (Vayikra 23:5 – 8); Commencement of the Counting of the Omer
(Vayikra 23:9 – 14); Shavuot (Vayikra
23:15 – 22); Rosh Hashanah (Vayikra
23:23 – 25); Yom Kippur (Vayikra 23:26 –
32); and Sukkot (with Shemini Atzeret) (Vayikra
23:33 – 36).
9.)
Out of these 7 sacred occasions, can you describe the number of days in
which rest (prohibition from work) is explicitly commanded during a given year?
Answer:
Depending on the number of months within the year, this number ranges presumably
from 57 to 62:
2 days for Pesach (Vayikra 23:7 – 8);
1 day for Shavuot (Vayikra 23:21);
1 day for Rosh Hashanah (Vayikra 23:23 – 24);
1 day for Yom Kippur (Vayikra 23:27 – 28); and,
2 days for Sukkot (with Shemini Atzeret) (Vayikra
23:35 – 36);
This adds to a subtotal of 7 days; there is also the weekly mitzah of Shabbat
(Vayikra 23:3), which within the span of a year, can presumably vary from 50 to
55.
10.)
Can you describe on which of these sacred occasions an animal sacrifice is
unnecessary?
Answer: An
animal sacrifice is explicitly commanded for each of the 7 sacred occasions
previously described: Pesach (Vayikra
23:5); Commencement of the Counting of
the Omer (Vayikra 23:12); Shavuot
(Vayikra 23:18 – 20); Rosh Hashanah (Vayikra
23:25); Yom Kippur (Vayikra 23:27); and, Sukkot (with Shemini Atzeret) (Vayikra
23:36); whilst there is an absence of an
explicit command for providing an animal sacrifice during Shabbat, this can be
found within Parashah Pinchas (Bamidbar 28:9 – 10); and whilst the descriptions for Rosh
Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot (with Shemini Atzeret) seem to explicitly
describe the requirement of simply a “gift,” this can be understood as an
animal sacrifice similarly described within Parashah Pinchas (Bamidbar 29:2, 8,
13 – 39, respectively).
11.)
Can you describe the annual sacred occasion that is implicitly included
within Parashah Emor, yet that is only explicitly commanded/explained elsewhere
within the Torah?
Answer: The answer is Simchat Torah; Simchat Torah is implicitly included within Parashah
Emor (Vayikra 23:36):
“On the eighth day you shall observe a sacred
occasion and bring a gift to the LORD;
it is a solemn gathering: you
shall not work at your occupations.”
However, the explicit command for what eventually
becomes Simchat Torah can be found within Parashah Vayeilekh (Devarim 31:10 –
13):
“And (Moshe) instructed them as follows: Every seventh year, the year set for
remission, at the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before the
LORD your God in the place that (Adonai) will choose, you shall read this
Teaching aloud in the presence of all Israel.
Gather the people—men, women, children, and the strangers in your
communities—that they may hear and so learn to revere the LORD your God and to
observe faithfully every word of this Teaching.
Their children, too, who have not had the experience, shall hear and
learn to revere the LORD your God as long as they live in the land that you are
about to cross the Jordan to posses.”
Double-Bonus Answer: Additional sacred occasions include the
occurrence of a New Moon (new month), Rosh Chodesh, which can be found within
Parashah Pinchas:
“On your new moons
you shall present a burnt offering to the LORD:” (Bamidbar 28:11).
--
References for
Questions 8 – 11:
“The LORD spoke to
(Moshe), saying: Speak to the Israelite
people and say to them:
“These are My fixed times, the fixed times of the
LORD, which you shall proclaim as sacred occasions.
“On six days work may be done, but on the seventh
day there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest, a sacred occasion. You shall do no work; it shall be a Sabbath of the LORD throughout
your settlements.
“These are the set times of the LORD, the sacred
occasions, which you shall celebrate each at its appointed time: In the first month, on the fourteenth day of
the month, at twilight, there shall be a Passover offering to the LORD, and on
the fifteenth day of that month the LORD’s Feast of Unleavened Bread. You shall eat unleavened bread for seven
days. On the first day you shall
celebrate a sacred occasion: you shall
not work at your occupations. Seven days
you shall make gifts to the LORD. The
seventh day shall be a sacred occasion:
you shall not work at your occupations.
“The
LORD spoke to (Moshe), saying: Speak to
the Israelite people and say to them:
“When you enter the land that I am giving to you
and you reap its harvest, you shall bring the first sheaf of your harvest to
the priest. He shall elevate the sheaf
before the LORD for acceptance in your behalf;
the priest shall elevate it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day that you elevate the sheaf, you
shall offer as a burnt offering to the LORD a lamb of the first year without
blemish. The grain offering with it
shall be two-tenths of a measure of choice flour with oil mixed in, a gift of
pleasing odor to the Lord; and the
libation with it shall be of wine, a quarter of a hin. Until that very day, until you have brought
the offering of your God, you shall eat no bread or parched grain or fresh
ears; it is a law for all time
throughout the ages in all your settlements.
“And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of
elevation offering—the day after the Sabbath—you shall count off seven
weeks. They must be complete: you must count until the day after the
seventh week—fifty days; then you shall
bring an offering of new grain to the LORD.
You shall bring from your settlements two loaves of bread as an
elevation offering; each shall be made
of two-tenths of a measure of choice flour, baked after leavening, as first
fruits to the LORD. With the bread you
shall present, as burnt offerings to the LORD, seven yearling lambs without
blemish, one bull of the herd, and two rams, with their grain offerings and
libations, a gift of pleasing odor to the LORD.
You shall also offer one he-goat as a purification offering and two
yearling lambs as a sacrifice of well-being.
The priest shall elevate these—the two lambs—together with the bread of
first fruits as an elevation offering before the LORD; they shall be holy to the LORD, for the
priest. On that same day you shall hold
a celebration; it shall be a sacred
occasion for you; you shall not work at
your occupations. This is a law for all
time in all your settlements, throughout the ages.
“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you
shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings
of your harvest; you shall leave them
for the poor and the stranger: I the
LORD am your God.
“The LORD spoke to (Moshe), saying: Speak to the Israelite people thus: In the seventh month, on the first day of the
month, you shall observe complete rest, a sacred occasion commemorated with
loud blasts. You shall not work at your
occupations; and you shall bring a gift
to the LORD.
“The LORD spoke to (Moshe), saying: Mark, the tenth day of this seventh month is
the Day of Atonement. It shall be a
sacred occasion for you: you shall
practice self-denial, and you shall bring a gift to the LORD; you shall do no work throughout the day. For it is a Day of Atonement, on which
expiation is made on your behalf before the LORD your God. Indeed, any person who dos not practice
self-denial throughout that day shall be cut off from his kin; and whoever does any work throughout that
day, I will cause that person to perish from among his people. Do no work whatever; it is a law for all time, throughout the ages
in all your settlements. It shall be a
Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall practice self-denial; on the ninth day of the month at evening,
from evening to evening, you shall observe this your Sabbath.
“The
LORD spoke to (Moshe), saying: Say to
the Israelite people:
“On the fifteenth day of this seventh month there
shall be the Feast of Booths to the LORD, to last seven days. The first day shall be a sacred
occasion: you shall not work at your
occupations; seven days you shall bring gifts to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall observe a sacred
occasion and bring a gift to the LORD;
it is a solemn gathering you shall not work at your occupations.” (Vayikra 23:1 – 26).
--
12.)
Can you describe the measure for each of the loaves of the bread of
display placed near the Menorah; and the material from which the oil is made to
light the Menorah?
Answer: The
measure of each loaf of bread is 2/10ths of an ephah (which is described as
approximately 7 litres (4 pounds); and
the oil for the Menorah is made from olives:
“You shall take choice flour and bake of it twelve
loaves, two-tenths of a measure for each loaf.”
(Vayikra 24:5);
“Command the Israelite people to bring you clear
oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling lamps regularly.” (Vayikra 24:2).
--
Discussion Questions:
Discussion Questions:
Amidst the restrictions for visiting
the corpse of a relative, what are the implications regarding how a man’s
relationship with his wife is perceived?
Are there any tacit or implicit
continuations of the restrictions, regarding (Levites) and Kohanim, that are
contemporarily practised? Do any of
these restrictions traditionally carry over into the community of Rabbis,
amidst the absence of the formal leadership of the Kohanim? Do contemporary Rabbis maintain an intrinsic
responsibility for educating and reinstating the leadership of, the Kohanim?
How do the children of Israel become
reconciled between the mitzvoth regarding childhood deformities and
compassionate inclinations to care for the “physically, mentally, and/or
additionally challenged.” (21:17+)
How do the prohibitions regarding the
provisions and distinctions of the כהן compare and contrast with the charitable
mitzvot of cohesion and cooperation, within Kedoshim?
What are the circumstances and
implications surrounding the practise of the גר offering sacrifices amidst the altar?
Does simply verbalising the tetragam of
Hashem necessarily equate with utilising Hashem in vain? And what significance, depravity, and/or
profundity exists within the consideration that people have some idea of how it
sounds? Does this means that the
conveyance of that knowledge is intrinsically blasphemous, and/or does it
emanate from some Divine origin? What
irony exists within this conveyance?
What are the implications regarding the
fact that the son of Shelomith is also the son of an Egyptian?
Amidst all the restrictions, even
amongst the כהנים for approaching the
Mishkan, entering within the curtain, and approaching the Ark of the Covenant,
what implications do all these restrictions have regarding physically
approaching the tablets of the “10 Commandments,” and the Torah that Moshe
writes? Does Adonai intend similar exclusivity
regarding the actual proximity towards such physical items, or does Adonai
intend that such physical items (and the immediate, metaphysical, and esoteric
knowledge and wisdom provided from these physical items) be made increasingly
available to all Israelites (and perhaps even all people)? How does the emergence of the Torah Scroll,
the printing press, and digital electronic communication (computers, internet,
and additionally) all factor into the manner in which our mitzvot and narrative
are shared?
